Friday, September 06, 2013

The NFL season hasn't even started yet and it has already gotten its signature performance from Peyton Manning...

Anyway, things have been busy the past few months. For those who email asking "Man, what happened to Quickish?" it's a fair question.

The answer is that I have been working on a new USA TODAY Sports product that you will get a sneak preview of on Sunday afternoon, if you go to USATODAY.com.

It's not a secret (heck, I advertised for help!) It's a new quick-hit, quick-twitch platform that, at least to start, will focus on the NFL.

It is not Quickish or Quickish 2.0, although it would be nuts not to use the lessons from Quickish in building something new that represents an evolution in a space I have spent a lot of time in: Quick-hit, real-time(-ish) topical news delivery and consumption.

We have some talented folks on board to make it happen day to day, moment to moment -- if nothing else, there's your clear differentiation from Quickish -- and I'm really excited for fans to try it.

It's not the end of Quickish.com -- I'm thinking about ways to pivot the platform and the value proposition to make it relevant (and sustainable, given that it would just be me working on it).

But it is the start of something new and really cool. Please come by USATODAY.com on Sunday afternoon to get a preview, then
use it constantly after that. Please immediately save it to your mobile
home screen. Please tell your friends!

Can't wait for you to check it out.

Meanwhile, can't ignore tomorrow's college football schedule and a few picks:Georgia over South Carolina.Florida over Miami.Michigan over Notre Dame.Upset alert: Western Kentucky over Tennessee.

Sunday, September 01, 2013

*I'm totally fine with "Johnny being Johnny." It's who he is and good for the sport. You can dislike him for it, but isn't that part of the fun?

*The "making money" hand gesture (by Manziel and Tajh Boyd, among others) should be THE move in college football this year. Not that this is Manziel's intent, but nothing captures the absurdity of college football's unpaid system of amateurism like the subtle signal. By next week, it will draw a penalty, of course.

*Speaking of Boyd, he was on my Top 5 preseason Heisman list, and I'm totally comfortable with that. Huge win for Clemson, which will only make their perennial mystifying loss all the more baffling.

*Your win of the week: Eastern Washington over Oregon State, which was even better than North Dakota State's win over Kansas State. FCS!

*Florida isn't flashy, but I was happy with how solid they looked in a season opener that typically displays some creakiness. Playing without their RB1 or CB1, they stifled a solid Toledo team.

*Did Northwestern have its defensive players lay down in order to slow down Cal's up-tempo offense, which was leading the team to a late-night upset win? Maybe? Possibly? (Probably?) But that move is a strategic advantage to be exploited. Sanctimony over it is for fans who are winless.

*Very solid win by LSU over TCU -- given the opponent, arguably the fourth most-impressive win of the day (behind Clemson beating Georgia, EWU over Oregon State and Washington clocking Boise State). Alabama is up there, too. Don't let the yardage output fool you.

Connect With Me

Quickish

About This Blog

DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.